Unown/GSC
Unown is available only in the interior of the Ruins of Alph and is the sole encounter in there. Why does this exist? Why are its stats so terrible? Why was it only given one move that isn't even unique? And most importantly, why would anyone want to use it? Important Matchups Johto * Gym #1 - Falkner (Violet City, Flying-type): A max power neutral Hidden Power or a supereffective one of any BP can beat Pidgey in theory, though it may get tripped up by the accuracy debuffs. Pidgeotto on the other hand requires either a supereffective Hidden Power, (though even a weak one will suffice) or a high-power Psychic one. * Gym #2 - Bugsy (Azalea Town, Bug-type): Any nonresisted Hidden Power will work on the cocoons, though Kakuna may cause problems if it manages to poison Unown. Unown would have to score a 2HKO on Scyther to not end up shredded into kibble; that's only accessible to a Rock Hidden Power of a high BP. * Rival (Azalea Town): Unown better be able to nuke Gastly quick; its Lick is only a 4HKO at best but its Spite is a threat for a 'mon stuck with only one move. Zubat needs to be two-shotted; a max/near-max suffereffective Hidden Power will be needed. (Unless it's lucky enough to have a Psychic HP, then even a middling base power will do.) Unown will need a near-max power supereffective HP for Quilava, and that's assuming it doesn't get screwed over by Smokescreen. Croconaw (darn hax evos) is a bit easier and only requires a middle strength supereffective HP or a max strength Psychic one. Bayleef is the toughest of the three; only high-powered Fire or Ice HP Unown need apply. (Bug, Flying and Poison are liable to run into problems with Reflect and Growl.) * Gym #3 - Whitney (Goldenrod City, Normal-type): Not a good idea. Even the strongest Fighting type HP would need 3 hits to take down Clefairy, who could get lucky with Doubleslap or Metronome in the meantime. And Miltank simply stomps Unown into alphabet paste. * Rival (Burned Tower): Gastly is now a Haunter with and has gained Curse and Mean Look, though the health loss from Curse might actually make it easier to deal with. Ground is ideal for Magnemite of course, though any decent supereffective HP will work. Zubat has gained Confuse Ray but is otherwise unchanged, and Quilava/Bayleef haven't changed at all. Croconaw on the other hand has acquired Bite and must be avoided. * Gym #4 - Morty (Ecruteak City, Ghost-type): Well, the Gastly at least can be taken out by any supereffective HP or a neutral one of max power, provided it doesn't get too Spite-spammy. Each Haunter's threat level depends on what its Mimiced Hidden Power is, though if you're able to two-shot it it won't matter. Don't even bother with Gengar. * Eusine (Cianwood City, Crystal only): Drowzee's liable to mess Unown up with Disable and Hypnosis; you could at least try though, given that Drowzee can't harm Unown much. Haunter has the dreaded Curse/Mean Look combo as well as Hypnosis, so only deal with it if Unown can take it out quickly. Keep well away from Electrode and its powerful Thunder. * Gym #5 - Chuck (Cianwood City, Fighting-type): High-power Flying or Psychic HP Unown are the only ones who can handle Primeape; it still has a chance to knock out Unown, but a slim one, given that it would have to land three 5-hit Fury Swipes. Don't bother with Poliwrath though as its Surf is too strong. * Gym #6 - Jasmine (Olivine City, Steel-type): Either Magnemite will 2HKO with Thunderbolt; the only Unown that can reliably 2HKO Magnemite are those with Ground-type HP or a near-max to max power Fire HP holding a Charcoal. Steelix on the other hand, shouldn't be fought as its Iron Tail is a 2HKO with Unown mustering a 3HKO at best. * Rocket Executive battle #1 (Team Rocket HQ): At equal levels a supereffective HP of middling power or greater will be needed for Zubat; at Jasmine levels basically any non-resisted HP will do. Koffing has to be avoided at equal levels as its Self-Destruct kills even a full health Unown; Jasmine-leveled ones with Ground or Psychic HP can manage. Equal leveled Unown have to avoid Raticate; Jasmine-leveled ones of a high-power Psychic HP or decent strength Fighting HP can pull it off. * Rocket Executive battle #2 (Team Rocket HQ): At equal levels only an Unown of max power Psychic HP can safely battle Arbok; at Jasmine levels a mid-power or better Ground or any Psychic HP will do. Gloom is fairly easy even at equal levels, being able to be taken out by even a weak supereffective HP or a max power neutral one; being at Jasmine levels allow max power resisted (other than Grass) and any neutral HP to join in. Equal-leveled Unown can't battle Murkrow regardless of HP's type; a Jasmine leveled one can manage, but only with a high-power supereffective HP. * Gym #7 - Pryce (Mahogany Town, Ice-type): Seel and Dewgong are liable to stall out Unown with Rest. Meanwhile Piloswine 2HKOs with Blizzard while the best Unown could do is a narrow chance at a 3HKO. If for some reason you're still using Unown at this point, consider this a taste of what's to come. * Rocket Executive battle #3 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): No, no, no. Unown can't one-shot Koffing (let alone Weezing) with even a max power Psychic HP and can't survive a Self-Destruct (let alone Explosion). * Rival (Goldenrod Underground): Only Psychic HP Unowns can beat Golbat before suffering death-by-Bite, and even then it's not certain. Magnemite hasn't changed much; any Ground HP or a decent supereffective one will do. Don't battle Haunter; Shadow Ball hurts too much even running off its pitiful Attack stat. Sneasel's only possible for a Fighting HP Unown of middling power or higher. Quilava can be handled by a high-power supereffective HP Unown. Feraligatr has too much bulk and Bite for the likes of Unown. Subtract the Bite and add even more bulk and Meganium poses the same problem. * Rocket Executive battle #4 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Arbok is ill-advised; even a max power Psychic HP Unown is not guaranteed to defeat it before being bitten to death. Vileplume's still offensively weak but much bulkier than it was as Gloom and will need some high-power supereffective Hidden Powers to put down. Murkrow is off-limits for any Unown. * Rocket Executive battle #5 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Keep well away from the hounds, but Koffing is a viable target for an Unown with high-power Ground HP or virtually any Psychic HP; just watch for poisoning and Smokescreen. * Suicune (Bell Tower, Crystal only): There's just too much bulk here. Even the strongest Hidden Power Unown could have is still only a 5HKO. * Gym #8 - Clair (Blackthorn City, Dragon-type): With max-power Ice HP, and only that, can Unown defeat a Dragonair. Don't even attempt Kingdra though. * Rival (Victory Road): Strategywise Sneasel, Golbat, Haunter and Meganium are unchanged. Magneton's only safe for an Unown with a very strong Fire HP or a decent Ground one. An Unown with a strong Ghost or Bug HP can outdamage Kadabra's Recover, though Disable is a definite problem. Unown is not strong enough to take on any of the starters. * Elite Four Will (Indigo Plateau, Psychic-type): ...Why are you even bringing an Unown to the League anyway? Anyway, either Xatu is viable with a max power supereffective HP as long as Unown doesn't succumb to confusion. Exeggutor is only beatable by an Unown with a powerful Bug HP, and that's assuming Reflect doesn't get used. On the off chance Slowbro never uses Amnesia an Unown with max power Dark, Electric or Grass HP can beat it. Jynx will most likely wreck Unown with Ice Punch. * Elite Four Koga (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): Ariados is not threatening to an Unown with a decent supereffective HP, but it's better to use something that can kill it quicker to keep it from Baton Passing Double Teams. Venomoth's fairly easy, managing a mere 6HKO with Psychic, though Unown will still need to have a supereffective HP. Do not battle Forretress; no Unown can one-shot it nor survive an Explosion. Nor can Muk be fought as Sludge Bomb is a 2HKO while Unown can only manage a 3HKO at best. Crobat's not a viable target either as the best Unown can hope for is a 3HKO while Crobat 3HKOs with Wing Attack and is faster. * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): An Unown with a high-power Flying HP or a decent Psychic one can handle Hitmontop, who while bulky is cursed with weak moves. High powered Psychic/Flying (equally effective in this one instance) also work on Hitmonlee, just watch out for Swagger. Hitmonchan is offensively pathetic; you'll still need Psychic/Flying HP but can get away with a much lower base power. Onix needs to be two-shotted at worst to avoid death by Earthquake; Grass/Water HP can manage even at relatively low power and max-power Ice might as well, though in that case it's not a sure thing. Unown will die if Machamp spams Rock Slide or Cross Chop. Unless Unown happens to be faster, though even then it will need a max-power Psychic HP. * Elite Four Karen (Indigo Plateau, Dark-type): As might be expected, Unown cannot battle any of the actual Dark types. Not that the others are any better; Vileplume matches Unown in a 3HKO and also has Moonlight and Gengar can easily end Unown with Destiny Bond. Though if you need to sacrifice something to Gengar... * Champion Lance (Indigo Plateau, Flying-type): Nothing Unown can do here. For Gyarados, even max-power Electric HP is essentially a 3HKO which the faster Gyarados matches. Replace "Electric" with "Ice" and the same applies to the Dragonites. Charizard will fry Unown with Flamethrower before it can knock out Charizard, even with Rock HP. Likewise, Unown can't take down Aerodactyl fast enough to avoid death by Rock Slide. Kanto From this point onwards, you can fight the gyms in any order, though you will need to retrieve the Machine Parts from the Cerulean City gym before you have access to the earlier portion of Kanto. Feel free to anticipate or postpone any battles as needed. * Gym #9 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): Graveler, Rhyhorn and Onix are perfect for a Water or Grass HP Unown; Ice will also work if it's of high power. Omastar's only beatable if Unown has Grass HP and can outspeed it. Kabutops also needs Grass, though in this case there's no chance of Unown being faster. * Rival (Mt. Moon, optional): Basically the same; the only meaningful difference is that Alakazam will require a higher power Bug/Ghost HP to beat. * Gym #10 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): The only thing that Unown is able to fight here is Quagsire, and only with Grass HP. * Gym #11 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): Unless you want to gamble with the inaccuracy of his 'mon's moves, there are no safe fights for Unown here. * Gym #12 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): An Unown with a strong Fire or Ice HP can beat Tangela. One with Psychic HP (or Fire under the sun) can triumph over Victreebel, though Razor Leaf crits are a definite risk. Ice is clearly best for Jumpluff, though any of its other weakness work too. The sole 'mon that Unown can't face is Bellossom, mainly due to its well-rounded bulk. * Gym #13 - Janine (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): Unown will need supereffective HP for Crobat, though even weak ones will work if at league levels. Avoid both Weezing as Explosion is lethal. Ariados is laughable; even decent powered neutral HPs will be sufficient. Venomoth is not directly harmful, though Toxic and Double Team could prove a nuisance; it's still likely that even the weakest supereffective HP can manage. * Gym #14 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): Even Unown's resistance to Psychic moves isn't guaranteed to save it against Espeon or Alakazam due to their sheer power. Mr. Mime's no good either, using Reflect and Barrier to hold off Bug/Ghost HP while having too much Special Defense to make Dark viable. * Gym #15 - Blaine (Seafoam Islands, Fire-type): Ground or Water HP of sufficient strength (enough to 2HKO) can beat Magcargo. High-power Rock or Ground HP will work on Magmar provided the sun isn't active. Rapidash, though, is going to be doing too much damage with Fire Blast, even without sun backing it up. * Gym #16 - Blue (Viridian City): Pidgeot will take out Unown with Wing Attack before Unown can do the same regardless of HP's type. Alakazam is as dubious as Sabrina's. Strong Grass or Water HP can deal with Rhydon. Like with Lance, max Electric Hp still isn't enough for Gyarados. Exeggutor wrecks with Solarbeam; the only hope Unown has is if it tries to use it during rain. But even rain won't help with Arcanine, who can be just as lethal with Extremespeed. * Rival (Indigo Plateau, optional): Now that Golbat is finally a Crobat, Magneton has learned Thunder and Alakazam has learned Reflect the only thing Unown can fight is (amusingly) Sneasel, and only with a decent strength Fighting HP. * Red (Mt. Silver): Pikachu's Thunder can 2HKO, but it's a small chance; still, you're much better off using a real ground type. Red's Espeon is as troublesome as Sabrina's, even carrying Reflect. Snorlax's gallons of health mean even Fighting HP is a mere 5HKO while it two-shots with Body Slam. Whether through Solar Beam or Giga Drain, Venusaur has it out for Unown. Unown (with Rock HP) and Charizard two-shot each other; unfortunately Charizard's faster. Blastoise is too bulky for Unown, as might be expected from a turtle. Move Unown starts with Hidden Power and learns not a darn thing else. Sigh. Here's hoping yours at least has high BP and a decent typing. Recommended moveset The only move it has: Hidden Power Recommended Teammates * Screeners/Sleep Inducers: Unown's weak offensive stats make it a slow killer and it lacks bulk. Some screens and/or sleep will help (slightly). ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Ledian, Meganium, Parasect, Electrode, Exeggutor * Steel-types: Steel resists all of Unown's weaknesses (among many other things). Though Unown is unlikely to be much help in return, even if it does resist Fighting. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description: Steelix, Magneton, Skarmory, Forretress, Scizor Other Unown's stats * How good is Unown in a Nuzlocke? Some small use in the VERY early game depending on its Hidden Power, but it won't be long before it's permaboxed. * Weaknesses: Bug, Ghost, Dark * Resistances: Fighting, Psychic * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Steel, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Dragon Category:Gold/Silver/Crystal Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses